July 31st marked a big day for me. From an outsider's view, it was nothing more than the end of a month. For me, however, it represents a turning point in a long journey. On May 29th, just two months earlier, I embarked on a structured plan to get myself from sitting around on my time off to achieving a level of fitness that would allow me to run a 5k without stopping. In order for me to further prove why I feel this program is such a great way to get in shape, consider the fact that prior to starting it, the extent of my physical activity pretty much revolved around work.
I'm in retail management which means I'm on my feet quite a bit throughout each day. I typically cover 2-3 miles but it's not in one shot. Instead, it's spread out across an entire day and is littered with plenty of moments of standing and sitting. While this is better than nothing, the only thing it achieves is potentially slowing down the inevitable weight gain by a margin to small to be worthwhile. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm no stranger to physical activity. I used to play a bunch of sports growing up and as recently as about a year and a half ago, I kayaked whenever I had the opportunity. Unfortunately, the chance to do that isn't always there and nothing owning my own kayak means the rentals can add up fairly quickly.
I finally reached a point where I was just tired of making excuses with regards to my health. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love beer. I don't mean that in the sense that I love to spend my Friday nights with a case of Bud Light and some friends (nothing wrong with that), I just love the taste of beer and the countless varieties available. I typically drink just a couple at a time and, even then, just a couple of times a week. Even though my consumption is nowhere near the levels of the local frat houses I found myself developing a bit of a beer gut. I'm a tall guy but I've never been a big guy and this wasn't the way I envisioned myself bulking up when I used to think about how much I disliked being so skinny with my height.
When I started the C25k program, I was at my heaviest weight; about 210lbs. On a 6'6" frame, that still comes across somewhat thin and my clothes do a wonderful job of hiding the gut like a ninja without being too big for me. Although I would joke about it from time to time, I honestly began to get a bit self conscious about the gut. I've never put too much stock into what other people think if it's something negative, I found myself worrying about it much in the same light as an adolescent who discovered their first whitehead smack dab in the middle of their face. Between that and listening to some passionate runners, I decided something needed to change.
Unlike many people whose C25k stories I read up on before starting out, I decided to forgo an initial exercise plan (walking multiple times a week for at least a week prior) and hit the ground running. One of my goals for the program was to finish it without repeating a week. That meant going from nothing to 5k distance in 9 weeks. I knew it would be tough but I also knew there was a good chance the difficulty would be more mental than physical considering all the variables; and I was right.
Here I am, two months later, announcing my graduation from the program. W9D3 came in went much like the other two runs of the week. A flare up or two in each leg early on followed by dull aches sporadically throughout the run. I covered a bit more than 2.8 miles during the 30 minutes and the heavens even decided to unleash a light shower on me during the last minute of the run and the majority of the cooldown walk.
9 weeks, nearly 77 miles, and 6 pounds.
The middle number, at least to me, is a bit impressive considering how slow you start off. The total time to complete the program is something I'm proud of because I enjoy reaching the goals I set for myself; especially when they seem lofty. Six pounds. From 210 down to 204. That doesn't sound like much for 2 months of running 3 times a week. However, once you consider the fact that I built up a fair amount of muscles in my legs, you realize that the total amount lost was offset by the amount gained. I'd venture to say I probably lost around 15 (5lbs lost at week 3).
The most important differences, though, are the significantly slighter bulge of my gut and all the noticeable changes in my level of fitness. I feel better than I have in a long time and I'm at a point where I can definitely say I'm a runner.
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